A couple of months ago, we found a bag full of documents at my house that my maternal grandmother had left behind when she passed away. Inside were baptism keepsakes, family pictures, old birth certificates, and a mysterious white envelope, among other things.

When we opened it, we found a collection of handwritten documents from the late 19th century. At first we thought they were letters, but we quickly realized they were bureaucratic papers. Through these manuscripts, my great-great-grandfather, Norverto Clavijo, was trying to obtain a promotion in the Bolivian Army. Over the course of seven handwritten pages (passed down from generation to generation and turning 139 years old in the family this year) my great-great-grandfather managed to reach the rank of commander in the Army.

A photo of a married couple (1916), found inside the bag and now on Wikimedia Commons.

The story could have ended there, but the documents also contain signatures from people who were truly important at the time.…